Brian Tanaka has worked for a variety of companies including the Well, SGI, Intuit, Nintendo, and RealNetworks. Today, his own company, Martingale-Oak LLC, provides Unix and open source technologies consulting. His articles have appeared in Linux Journal and Sysadmin Magazine.

Take Control of Permissions in Leopard

Permissions problems got you down? Turn to Unix expert Brian Tanaka’s unique guide to the permissions in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that control access to your files, folders, and disks. You’ll learn how to keep files private, when to set Ignore Permissions, what happens when you repair permissions, how to delete stuck files, and the best ways to solve permissions-related problems. Advanced concepts include the sticky bit, Leopard’s more-important access control lists, bit masks, and symbolic versus absolute ways to set permissions. The book covers how to take control of permissions via the Finder, with Mac utilities, and using the command line.

Is there an edition that covers permissions in 10.6 Snow Leopard?

Do you explain the correct permissions for the WebServer/Documents folders?

Brian’s answer: The ebook explains permissions so thoroughly that I feel confident you’ll have no problem at all setting and maintaining the permissions on the Webserver/Documents folders (and all the other folders on your Mac). That said, if you have specific questions that aren’t covered by the ebook, I’d be glad to help to the degree I’m able.

This ebook discusses three third-party tools: FileXaminer, Super Get Info, and XRay/XRay II. Today, only FileXaminer remains. Super Get Info has been discontinued. XRay has Leopard and Snow Leopard issues the author is not intending to address. The sole survivor, FileXaminer, now has a 14-day trial. (The previous trial period was 7 days.)